


Rubble

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, Extra Treat, F/F, Pilots, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12740760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: Jess and Karé pick up a distress call from the wreckage of the Hosnian system.





	Rubble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yunmin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunmin/gifts).



“The scanner’s not registering the distress call anymore,” Jess said, flipping a few switches to see if she could pick anything up on a different channel, maybe. No good.

“Probably not a good sign,” Karé observed.

“We’re not giving up.”

Karé brushed her hand lightly over the back of Jess’ shoulder. “Of course not.” Her smile was sly. “I know I’m not prepared to fight with your stubbornness, so it’s best just to go along with you.”

“Please,” Jess said with a huff. “As if you’re one to talk.”

They were flying on the outskirts of the Hosnian system, or at least, what used to be the Hosnian system. General Organa had sent out her best pilots to search for any survivors and coming through the asteroid field left in the wake of Starkiller’s destructive power had been some of the craziest flying Jess had ever done, nerve-wracking and exhilarating all at once. She and Karé had been too tense and too focused to do much talking aside from shouting out navigational directions and the like, but as they’d come through the worst of it Karé had gripped Jess’ hand and Jess had exhaled, almost physically ill at the knowledge that that had been the _Hosnian system._

And now it was rubble.

Jess wished she could blow up that kriffing weapon again.

They weren’t expecting to find much; it wasn’t like anyone had had warning enough to escape, or to prepare for trouble. They were hoping, though, that someone had got lucky, ships leaving, perhaps, or anyone who might have been headed toward the system when it blew.

She could see the ship now, a small hopper, floating like a dead thing. “There,” Jess said, pointing through the viewport. “The beacon is still blinking.”

“I can’t raise them on comms,” Karé said after a few moments of trying.

“It’s okay,” Jess said, getting up from her seat and moving to the back. “I’m going out there.”

“You’re what?” Karé exclaimed. “I’m sorry, but what sort of half-assed Poe Dameron plan is this?”

Jess smiled crookedly at her. “His half-assed plans generally work.”

“Yeah, because he’s got us to save his cute butt.”

“Good thing I’ve got you to save mine, then.”

“I am partial to it,” Karé called, swiftly setting the auto-pilot so she could follow Jess. “But I’m really not sure--”

“Hey,” Jess said, checking her flight suit and reaching for a helmet. “This might be someone we can help, one person we can save from this disaster. I have to try.”

“I know,” Karé said, and Jess knew she did.

“We’re close. Keep us steady and I’ll use the line to reach them, see what I can find. Hopefully bring someone back with me.”

“I can do it instead,” Karé offered, voice soft.

“No, you can’t,” Jess said, and kissed Karé’s mouth. “I’ll keep my comm open.”

“You absolutely will,” Karé agreed, helping secure Jess’ helmet and her tether line. “If there’s any trouble at all, you tell me, and I expect frequent updates.”

“Yes, ma’am.” With a grin and a wave, Jess pushed Karé back so she could close herself into the back and open the hatch to head outside the ship.

It had been a while since Jess had done any space walking but it wasn’t something you forgot; she couldn’t help her grin as she propelled herself out towards the floating ship. The angle and her momentum had to be just right, but she collided perfectly with the side of the hopper, gripping it and fighting her way to the hatch.

“Made it,” she said to Karé as she clung to the handle. “Just need to get it open.”

“Be careful, babe.”

“My middle name,” Jess claimed, and heard Karé’s snort.

She had help; someone was opening the door from the inside. When she was safely in, the door sealed, her companion gestured to remove their helmets and Jess complied.

A Trandoshan, pale green-skinned and female. “You got our signal?” the woman said in relief.

“Barely. It cut out but we had your coordinates; then we saw your ship and the beacon.”

“Oh, thank the gods. My children are here. We didn’t know-- I thought--”

“It’s all right,” Jess said, touching the woman’s elbow. “We’re with the Resistance. We’ll bring you to safety.”

As they reached the cockpit, two small girls ran to their mother and hugged her legs. “Mama! Are we being rescued?”

“Yes, sweethearts, we are.”

Jess smiled at them. “Rescues are kind of my specialty.” She looked at the woman. “I’m Jess. What happened?”

“My name is Vara,” the woman said and began to explain. “We were coming for a holiday, if you can believe, to see Hosnian Prime. But it was… gone; we came out of hyperspace and got caught in so much debris, I… It was all I could do to keep the ship flying; something hit us and knocked out the flight control. We spun off. The comms were weak and honestly I didn’t know if any of my messages got through. You being here feels like a miracle.”

“I know it might not seem like it but honestly, you were lucky. The whole system’s been destroyed. If you’d been a little earlier…”

Vara gasped, eyes huge. “The whole system is gone? Like… like Alderaan? Someone rebuilt the Death Star?”

“It was called Starkiller but you don’t have to worry. We’ve taken care of it. The Resistance destroyed it.”

“You blew up the Death Star?” the littlest girl asked in awe.

“Well, I had help. Like from my girlfriend, she’s waiting on our shuttle to meet you. If you ask her I bet she’ll tell you all about it; she’s great at stories.”

“You shouldn’t lie to children, darling,” Karé said through Jess’ comm.

Jess laughed softly. “Have you got suits for your girls? If the ship’s dead I’ll need to take you one by one to our shuttle.”

“Yes, of course,” Vara said, and got to dressing the children. She spoke like it was a game, keeping them cheerful and without worry.

Jess followed suit, keeping her mood light and optimistic, using the tether line to link herself to the smallest girl first and push them both back to the shuttle. It helped that it _was_ fun, at least to Jess, and she imagined the girls had never walked out in space before.

She left them one at a time with Karé, who came to the hatch to bring them in. Vara looked paler within her helmet than she should have but she kept quiet and calm and did exactly as Jess told her.

Once they were all safely in, the girls exploded in chatter to their mother. “Mama! Karé says we can be pilots, too, and fly X-wings, and blow up the bad guys! Karé and Jess do it all the time!”

Karé gave a small, apologetic shrug when Vara and Jess looked at her, and Jess rolled her eyes.

“Perhaps when you’re a little older,” Vara suggested.

“There’s a few seats here in the back,” Jess told her. “Come get us if you need anything, okay? We should be back at our base in a few hours and we can get you wherever you need to be from there.”

“Thank you so much,” Vara said, and hugged her. “Thank you.” She moved to Karé and embraced her as well.

Karé awkwardly returned it, stroking Vara’s back, her expression a mix of surprised, uncomfortable, and touched, that Jess couldn’t help but find ridiculously endearing.

“We’ve got to, uh, fly the ship,” Karé said, and excused herself to the cockpit.

“We’re glad we could help,” Jess said, and touched Vara’s elbow. “We’ll be up front.”

Karé had slid into the pilot’s seat and Jess brushed her hand over her shoulder. “Smooth.”

“Whatever,” Karé said. “I’m not a hugger.”

“Uh huh.”

“Shut up!”

Jess laughed, leaning in to smack a kiss on Karé’s cheek. “That was three people we saved,” she said quietly.

“I know.” Karé squeezed her hand. “Wish we could’ve done more.”

“Well,” Jess said, grinning and taking her seat. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll get to blow up some bad guys.”

“We can only hope,” Karé said, and set a course to the Resistance base.


End file.
